If you are a middle or large commercial enterprise and have not yet centralized your IT, then you just waste tons of money. Keep on doing that, your competitors would be happy.
There are several things which keep good people on board in your company:
In many cases, in IT an interesting job could be the most important factor. But what is an interesting job? For different people it could mean different things, but as far as I know IT, it is the ability to learn something new and to implement it, to make a difference.
Now comes the question: where you could learn more? Where could you make a difference? In a local company by managing 300 Windows XP PCs or in an international/crosscountry/crossregional company with 20 000 PCs? In a local company by supporting a javascript web page or in a company, which applies machine learning algorithms? The size, scope, and the complexity of IT operations and projects matters.
And you already know how it is difficult now to attract really good IT professionals.
business presense: in 5 countries (1 country = 1 office)
Total number of network engineers: 5x3 + 3 = 18
Employee perspective
There are several things which keep good people on board in your company:
- Company values, mission and culture;
- Good management;
- Interesting job.
In many cases, in IT an interesting job could be the most important factor. But what is an interesting job? For different people it could mean different things, but as far as I know IT, it is the ability to learn something new and to implement it, to make a difference.
Now comes the question: where you could learn more? Where could you make a difference? In a local company by managing 300 Windows XP PCs or in an international/crosscountry/crossregional company with 20 000 PCs? In a local company by supporting a javascript web page or in a company, which applies machine learning algorithms? The size, scope, and the complexity of IT operations and projects matters.
And you already know how it is difficult now to attract really good IT professionals.
Company perspective
Synergy, buying power, shared costs... Let's have several examples from IT area.
Case 1 - network support
In our world if your network goes down for long time, you are out of business. Network engineers are really the ones, you need to take care of. So the general rule is that you need to have 2 network experts per your network.
Company §1
- Business presense: in 3 countries
- Total number of network engineers: 6
Company §2
business presense: in 3 countries
Total number of network engineers: 3
The questions:
1. which company is the most cost effective?
2. which company provides the better network service?
The answer to the 1st question is very simple: Company §2. The answer to the 2nd question is not that obvious. I would say, that it is also Company §2 which provides the better service. But why?
Because due to limited number of resources, the company §2 will install the same hardware in each country, apply the same processes, and use the automation tools.
The standardization, processes, and automation matters. The more homogeneous your environment, the better.
Case 2 - 1st line support (helpdesk)
When your CEO can't open the news site at the beginning of the working day, you will have highest possible priority ticket, which you need to solve as quickly as possible. And remote support is out of question. So you'd better have your IT staff available on site. How many helpdesk specialists do you need on site? As a general rule, three. One could have the vacation, another could be sick. Someone needs to fix that terrible problem. What about if you need to provide services 24x7? Then you need 4-5 people.
Company §1
- business presense: in 5 countries (1 country = 1 office)
- Total number of helpdesk engineers: 5 x 4 = 20
Company §2
In the 2nd case you could keep 3 people for each office + a centralized team to support during out of office hours. But the figures would be pretty much the same, while you need people where the services should be provided.
The proximity matters. The closer you are, the better.
Client perspective
I have a partner in one country and we are satisfied. We want to expand to another market in another country. But we have a great CRM, which we want to keep.
Option §1: use a new partner in the 2nd country.
- Integration: 2 times
- Projects: 2
Option §2: use the existing partner.
- Integration: 1 time
- Project: 2
Integration and project management requires significant efforts. The 2nd case looks much more attractive, also knowing that the 2nd project would take only 50% of the efforts, while we already know how to do that.
Efforts matters. The less efforts, the better.
What should be centralized
Using these simple, yet real examples, it is easy to follow my logic: decentralized IT departments are like separate companies. And when you see the whole picture, it is not difficult to make a conclusion.
Let's make a list of important factors regarding centralization:
- standardization, processes, and automation
- proximity
- efforts
And as you could see from the examples, not everything should/could be centralized.
There is also another function, which could not be centralized and which is very important. Normally, it is called IT Manager. But it also could be called IT Business Partner. It is the one, who understands the local business, peculiarities, and culture. The one, who coordinates the local needs and priorities with the centralized capabilities. The one, who speaks the local language.
Centralization
I would say, that several things define the success of centralized approach:
- centralized budgets
- direct reporting lines
- strong management
Additional resources
- https://www.vmware.com/radius/research-shows-it-decentralization-disrupting-businesses/
- http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Centralised-IT-can-help-maintain-quality
- https://www.kmco.com/resource-center/cpce/content-hubs/growth-performance/centralized-vs-decentralized-data-management-right-approach/
- http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/opinion/Following-both-sides-of-the-decentralized-vs-centralized-IT-debate
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